Perennial indie favorites Fleet Foxes performed at Old National Center in late May touring behind their latest release, 2017’s Crack Up. Landscapes of reverb-soaked Americana echoing throughout the theater, Robin Pecknold and company performed songs from their new record in addition to a selection of favorites from their previous albums, notably Helplessness Bluesand their timeless (yet somehow decade old?!?) self-titled release. The crowd swooned, stomped, and hummed along throughout the set, including a particularly raucous rendition of “Ragged Wood,” when everyone suddenly erupted from their seats to dance and jump along with the band.

The criminally short set from Amen Dunes, however, was the real treat for the evening. Freedom, the band’s recent release on Sacred Bones, is stacked with slow burners that keep getting better the more they repeat. The strut of “Calling Paul the Suffering” paired with their latest single, “Miki Dora,” constructed room for the band to open up; the set created moments of space and understated improvisation while avoiding anything meandering. Each song, and especially the closer “Believe,” was an exercise in confidence where arrangements subtly built upon each other with the result being a fully realized portrait of a surfer, of a father, of an ending. Amen Dunes lit a fuse with this set that you can hopefully see at full length, but until then get your hands on Freedom and let it wash over you.

Swedish pop star, Tove Lo has been fully expressing herself since 2013…I’m sure before that as well, but we knew early on, she was rarely going to filter herself. Her latest album, Lady Wood, keeps pumping out the hits and the fun.

Just in time for Pride weekend, Tove Lo recruits Charli XCX, Icona Pop, Elliphant, and ALMA for a sassy/cheeky new video for her single “Bitches,” directed by Lucia Aniello. The ladies provide some much needed “couples counseling” for Paul W. Downs and Jessy Hodges (Broad City, Rough Night). As a proud member LGBTQ community Tove Lo will headline at LA PRIDE on June 10 and NY PRIDE on June 23.

Indianapolis-based psych/power-pop band S.M. Wolf have recently released their sophomore album Bad Ocean through PIAPTK Records. The band, led by elementary school teacher Adam Gross, has been impressing midwest audiences since 2015 and create an updated sound comparable to many mid-to-late-90s alt-rockers, like Weezer, Ozma, and Nada Surf. You can check the album’s lead single, “The Station” below, and stream all of Bad Ocean on Spotify.

My Morning Jacket’s Jim James will release his latest solo album “Uniform Distortion” on June 29th. Yesterday, James released the second single from the album, “Throwback“. It follows “Just A Fool“. “Throwback” is a track that MMJ has actually been playing, as a band, here and there for a couple years, so it is interesting to see it released as a solo work. In an Instagram post, James wrote:

i wrote this song doing pretty much what you are probably doing right at this very second: scrolling thru social media. it struck me as SO wild- how, as you scroll back in time thru someone’s account you watch their face grow younger…but as you do this REAL TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!! the clock is ticking…instead of doing good work or creating love or taking a walk in nature i am here STARING AT MY FUCKING PHONE!!!! ha ha ha. don’t get me wrong- social media is an amazing tool…but i think we should look at it more like a tool, like a hammer you pick up for a little while to do a job, and then you PUT IT DOWN. you don’t sit there and keep hammering away or else pretty soon your entire world would be destroyed and fall apart! and i feel like that is exactly what is happening right before our very eyes to this precious real beautiful human-filled earth. so lets WAKE EACH OTHER UP PEOPLE! lets stand up against injustice and use this tool of social media to fight for peace and love and equality! let’s throwback for a minute but try and live in the NOW for a better future.